Longfellow Real Estate Partners has expanded its San Diego holdings with the purchase of a 16.8-acre Sorrento Mesa Business Park.
Based in Boston
Based in Boston, Longfellow has become a major player in San Diego’s life science real estate since first entering the market in November 2018.
In the latest deal, Longfellow bought Centerpark Plaza on Flanders Drive from Montana Avenue Capital, bringing the firm’s San Diego portfolio to 1.3 million square feet with an additional one million square feet in the development pipeline.
“San Diego continues to be one of the leaders in the life science field and this acquisition reflects Longfellow’s continued commitment to the region and our thriving community,” said Managing Director Nick Frasco.
“Centerpark Plaza continues the strong growth Longfellow has in San Diego, and specifically the Sorrento Mesa submarket,” Frasco said.
Sorenton Mesa “houses several Longfellow campuses and new developments in our portfolio,” Frasco said.
The firm in April acquired a three-building business park in Sorrento Msa at 5889 Oberlin Drive, 5983 Oberlin Drive and 5897 Oberlin Drive with plans to raze the existing buildings and redevelop the property for life science.
Earlier this year, Longfellow bought the three-building Sorrento Tech campus on Barnes Canyon Road.
10 Buildings
Centerpark Plaza has 10 buildings in a mix of flex and creative office tenants that is leased to a mix of flex and creative office space, Frasco said.
He said Centerpark Plaza “will immediately undergo a redesign and enhancement of the site” that will include adding outdoor amenity space.
A building at 6790 Flanders Drive will be demolished to make way for a new ground up lab building with construction slated to start in 2023, Frasco said.
“San Diego is a nationwide leader in the life science sector, and Sorrento Mesa is ideally positioned at the heart of the region’s biotech cluster,” Frasco said. “The access to talent and dynamic companies combined with all the draw San Diego has as a worldwide destination to live and work makes this area exceptional for sustained growth.”
Longfellow’s latest purchase follows the $567 million purchase in August of seven Sorrento Mesa buildings and an adjacent five acres of Land by Harrison Street and Sterling Bay West.
The two Chicago-based companies plan to redevelop the property into a 1.1 million square-foot life science campus.
Another company, Healthpeak Properties, announced in August that it was about to begin construction of an $80 million life science project in Torrey Pines.
Healthpeak Properties is finishing construction of Boardwalk, a $164 million campus also in Torrey Pines.
With the recent activity by Longfellow Partners and others, 2021 is on track to be a record setting year for life science construction and leasing in San Diego, on top of what was a record setting year in 2020, according to the commercial real estate brokerage JLL.
37 New Leases Signed
For the second quarter of 2021, the San Diego County life science market secured over 904,026 square feet of new leases with 37 new leases signed, according to JLL.
“The volume established throughout the first half of the year is a 102% increase from the first half of 202 and 133% higher than the trailing five-year average,” JLL reported.
That follows a year in which 92 leases were signed for life science space in 92 transactions.
“A key driver to the strong leasing activity is the record levels of investment flowing into the region,” JLL reported. “During the first half of 2021, the San Diego life sciences sector secured $2.8 billion in venture capital financing.”
Longfellow Real Estate Partners
Founded:2009
Managing Partners: Jamie Peschel, Adam Sichol
Headquarters: Boston
Business: life sciences real estate developer and manager
Employees: 85+
Notable: Company principals have acquired or developed more than 8 million square feet of lab and technology space over their careers
Website: www.lfrep.com
Contact: 918-838-7390
